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(CFI Awards Management System)

The Canada Foundation for Innovation Awards Management System (CAMS) is the secure online portal that allows universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions to apply for CFI funding and assists them in managing the full life cycle of a CFI-funded project.

A CAMS update was applied on August 23. Changes are detailed on the CFI Online section of innovation.ca. If you notice any issues with CAMS, please inform the CFI at help.aide [at] innovation.ca.

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Featured Stories

Rethinking compost bins

Rethinking compost bins

How access to cutting-edge research tools helped a Canadian company take off

May 21, 2015

by Malorie Bertrand

The only household chore worse than taking out the trash is taking out the compost. Sixty percent of Canadians compost at home, but bags designed to line compost bins are often prone to leaking and don’t compost well because they’re made of polymers that are slow to break down. McMaster University student, Morgan Wyatt, and brother Jackson of the University of Toronto used their backgrounds in microbial metabolism and product design to develop a solution to this nuisance. The Greenlid is the first-ever disposable compost bin made entirely of natural materials. The Canadian-made product is now available in Home Hardware, Home Depot, Canadian Tire, London Drugs and other retailers across Canada and has had sales of more than $350,000 since its launch in December 2014.

Morgan credits the success of the product partly to his experience as a PhD student at McMaster, where he worked at the Michael G. Degroote Institute of Infectious Diseases with biochemistry professor, Nathan Magarvey, from 2009 to 2014. During this time, Morgan used equipment funded by the Canada Foundation for Innovation to make new drugs from natural sources such as bacteria, which, he says gave him the skills and knowledge needed to create the formulation responsible for the Greenlid’s leak resistance and super compostability.

The Wyatt brothers launched a prototype for their product on an online fundraising platform in February 2014, raising $26,000 and selling more than 12,000 containers. This proof of concept earned them an appearance on CBC’s Dragon’s Den and a partnership worth $85,000 for 20 percent of the company. The entrepreneurial brothers are now looking to produce a larger bin as demand for their innovative product increases.

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Research builds communities

Research supported by the Canada Foundation for Innovation is helping build communities across Canada. That’s because the CFI gives researchers the tools they need to think big and innovate. And a robust innovation system translates into jobs and new enterprises, better health, cleaner environments and, ultimately, vibrant communities. By investing in state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in Canada’s universities, colleges, research hospitals and non-profit research institutions, the CFI also helps to attract and retain the world’s top talent, to train the next generation of researchers and to support world-class research that strengthens the economy and improves the quality of life for all Canadians.